The inaugural AI Competence Center’s awards were very well received: promising startups from a wide range of industries applied for the award, which also promotes expansion to Asia and North America in particular.
Munich, October 28, 2022 – The AI Beyond Borders Awards (AI – Artificial Intelligence) honor the three best German AI startups that not only redefine the boundaries for artificial intelligence, but also have the greatest potential for international expansion. The awards will be presented annually from now on by the AI Competence Center, an initiative funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection and operated by German Entrepreneurship GmbH. The selection of this year’s winners was difficult for the international jury members, as numerous top-class startups had applied, ranging from various areas of healthcare to automatic text generation.
On October 27, 2022, the time had come: the Bavarian Minister of State for Science and the Arts, Markus Blume, presented the awards in person at the European AI Summit in Munich and said appreciatively: “Whether they represent intelligent solutions for stationary retail or for plastics, for pharmaceutical and food industries, or for the diagnostic process for leukemia: With their innovative ideas, the three startups honored here today are prime examples of the huge potential that artificial intelligence offers to our society – congratulations to all! The European AI Summit is the perfect setting for the presentation of the ‘AI Beyond Borders Awards 2022’, and Bavaria is the ideal place. With our 3.5 billion strong Hightech Agenda Bavaria, we too think and act far beyond borders. AI is coming home! “
The jury decided on the following award winners:
- 1st place: IANUS Simulation GmbH.
The Dortmund-based startup offers customers from industry 3D simulations of flow processes to avoid design errors and optimize existing processes during operation. The so-called StrömungsRaum also offers a cloud-based simulation framework that uses modern AI assistance systems based on deep machine learning and neural networks. The system enables the design, analysis, and optimization of products and processes in virtual space, saving both energy and resources. - 2nd place: Signatrix GmbH.
The Berlin-based startup specializes in retail optimization. To do this, Signatrix uses security cameras and artificial intelligence in a privacy-compliant manner to evaluate what exactly is going on in a store – in real time and without additional work. This not only enables optimization of work processes, but also theft and fraud prevention. - 3rd place: hema.to GmbH.
The life science startup from Munich develops analysis software for fully automated and AI-supported flow cytometry of blood samples for rapid hematological diagnostics. This enables individualized treatment for each patient.
“The entire team and I are thrilled to be recognized at the AI Beyond Borders Awards 2022. AI will revolutionize engineering across the globe. This award is the perfect opportunity to bring our technology to the world. It’s a great validation and recognition of our work.” Dr.-Ing. Tobias Herken, CEO of IANUS Simulation
The top three startups will receive cash prizes totaling €50,000. In addition, there is a comprehensive package of benefits that increases visibility in the AI ecosystems and in the global investment community. “Unlike other AI competitions, the AI Beyond Borders Awards also focus on the startups’ potential for successful internationalization,” explains Prof. Matthias Notz, Managing Director of German Entrepreneurship and Managing Director of German Accelerator. “The three finalists will therefore also receive up to six months of professional support for their expansion to Singapore, Southeast Asia, or North America from the AI Competence Center’s locally well-connected mentors and experts.”
In addition, the award winners will benefit from a one-year membership to AI Park Germany and receive compute credits worth up to 150,000 euros each. Partners of the new award include AI + Munich, AI.Hamburg, Berlin Partner, Intel Ignite, Startup Network Europe, and Transatlantic AI eXchange, the organizer of the European AI Summit.
About the AI Competence Center
The AI Competence Center promotes the acceptance, dissemination, and internationalization of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and products developed in Germany. A key role is played by the exchange of experience between the players in Germany and their counterparts in leading international AI hubs such as Silicon Valley and Singapore. With offices in Germany, the U.S. and Asia, the AI Competence Center operated by German Entrepreneurship GmbH taps into and fosters powerful and diverse innovation ecosystems – a key success building block for German startups on their challenging path to international expansion. Targeted initiatives provide German AI startups with a professional and public forum to showcase their business. One of these initiatives is the annual innovation competition “AI Beyond Borders Awards”. All projects also aim to raise public awareness of AI technologies and their applications.
About German Entrepreneurship
As a valued partner to startups, corporations, universities and public organizations, German Entrepreneurship shapes the future by empowering innovation. Targeted programs like German Accelerator, Scaler8, the EU-India Innocenter, Master Accelerator and Scale-up.NRW address European and international startups as they transition into the world’s most thriving economies. Since 2008, the German Entrepreneurship team has guided more than 750 startups with its global network of experts – including German unicorns like Flixbus and Celonis. Over 500 innovation projects, ranging from innovation coaching to corporate accelerators, were successfully completed on behalf of DAX-listed and medium-sized enterprises.